IREA customers have seen at least a 16.5 percent increase in the cost of heating and lighting their homes since the beginning of December and should prepare for an additional 6.5 percent boost starting Jan. 1.

However, IREA will freeze rates after the Jan. 1 increase in an effort to cap rising energy costs that are passed along to its 138,000 households, according to Bill Schroeder, manager of public affairs for the Intermountain Rural Electric Association.

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from a lady who lived in the Genesee area who said she had just gone outside for a short break, and looking up at the beautiful blue sky, she saw a majestic bald eagle flying over.

I was so pleased that she had called to share her excitement with me for it is so much more interesting if you have someone to share your sightings with, and I, too, have seen bald eagles flying over near Genesee.

2009 has been filled with celebrations of Evergreen’s sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary. The Evergreen Chorale’s holiday concert, 150 Years of Holiday Music in Evergreen, is a fitting way to wrap up a year of merriment in honor of our historic mountain community.

“We wanted to create a program packed with pieces that have been performed in Evergreen throughout its 150-year history,” said Laurie Romberg, the Chorale’s publicity manager.

Another season, another scandal. This time, a minor car accident in Florida gave rise to a story that culminated in Tiger Woods issuing a public statement confessing to “transgressions.”

In what appears to be a semi-annual ritual, the press is having a field day with the foibles of another celebrity. Talk shows talk. Experts offer opinions. Eyebrows are raised. Heads move gravely from side to side.

Music and merriment return to Center/Stage in Evergreen with the Baroque Folke concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20.

This eight-member consort of friends performs on early instruments, including recorder, viola da gamba, krummhorn, cornamuse and harpsichord, as well as singing in vocal ensembles. The program mingles carols from many countries with instrumental pieces, all chosen to reflect the spirit of December holidays.

LAKEWOOD — After shooting out to a 2-0 start to the season, the Evergreen Cougars experienced their first growing pains this past weekend, going 0-3 in the Paul Davis Classic at Green Mountain High School.

Scrappy to the end, the Cougars (3-3) slowly lost their shine from an overtime loss against Thomas Jefferson, to a close loss to Class 5A Green Mountain, to getting pounded on at times by a talented Lewis-Palmer.

If you spend your time in the testosterone world long enough, you’re bound to see something like this: An unsuspecting guy gets caught in a brawl he never intended and it’s nothing but a flurry of punches before he realizes what he stumbled into.

That was kind of like what Evergreen heavyweight Josh Karnath found himself in Dec. 10, minus, of course, the punches.

Karnath had Valor Christian freshman Stanley Gilbert on him like a hornet to start their match and he staggered out of the first salvo with a little wobble and bit of worry.

“Be careful what you wish for!” laughed Lisa Rogers, director of resident services at Evergreen’s Elk Run Assisted Living Community. “This started as the glimmer of an idea less than three months ago — and now look where we are!”